The FA launch survey on coloured referee shirts

[Mooseybaby]

Anyone follow the "Sunday League Football" page on fb? They have posted a video of somewhat camp referee wearing an all pink kit. Any ref trying to replicate that grassroots level will almost certainly get ripped to shreads before the match has even started. I for one certainly would never go there!

 

[RefJef]

I like pink and, if coloured shirts do come in, I would actively seek out a pink shirt (I'd still wear black shorts & socks, though), perhaps it could become my signature piece and "The Ref in the Pink Shirt" the title of my memoirs ...

I know that there are still some Neanderthals out there, but I suspect that most/all would still judge on the quality (or lack of!) of my refereeing.

If we do ever end wearing "colours", and I wear a pink shirt, I'll report back ...

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Anyone follow the "Sunday League Football" page on fb? They have posted a video of somewhat camp referee wearing an all pink kit. Any ref trying to replicate that grassroots level will almost certainly get ripped to shreads before the match has even started. I for one certainly would never go there!

Anyone who tries to tackle a referee on his shirt colour will no doubt be taken up the steps by the match official and binned if needed. The report, which follows will no doubt make reference to the inferences made by the player and how the referee found them offensive. If worded correctly the player would face a 5 match suspension on the grounds of discrimination against one of the magic 9.

 

[xPositor]

I like pink and, if coloured shirts do come in, I would actively seek out a pink shirt (I'd still wear black shorts & socks, though), perhaps it could become my signature piece and "The Ref in the Pink Shirt" the title of my memoirs ...

I know that there are still some Neanderthals out there, but I suspect that most/all would still judge on the quality (or lack of!) of my refereeing.

If we do ever end wearing "colours", and I wear a pink shirt, I'll report back ...

At least you would only need the one shirt, as I'm sure that 99.9% of teams don't wear pink...

 

[RustyRef]

The problem with buying non Nike kits is not all manufacturers have the same range of colours, and that becomes a problem when working in teams of three or four. The Nike kit has black, yellow, turquoise and purple. Adidas has black, yellow, blue and red. So if you have a game with a team in black vs a team in yellow you have got a problem when it comes to having all three / four officials in the same kit.

In other counties the local FA arrange heavily discounted deals with manufacturers so that officials can buy multiple shirts all from the same manufacturer. In the UK it is almost the opposite, as to buy the "approved" kit (i.e. the one worn by the PGMOL officials) costs a fortune and you aren't going to get it for less than £40.

 

[RefJef]

Have found my pink ref shirts in Costa Rica:

[source]

 

[A Freethinker]

OK been watching this and whilst over here we are paid well for refereeing, I have never found the cost of updating my shirts prohibitive i.e. ebay, aliexpress, amazon etc all do reasonable shirts for £10. Now the cost of the course here is £50 less your registration fee for the year means it actually only costs you £20 for the course. This is made back in your first two matches, after flags whistles cards etc are added I would say an overall spend of £150 maximum would have you ready to referee. Now here that's four matches and after that is gravy. if you do it for the love of the game, if you are here to make a profit then you are in the wrong game! Everyone whinging about the cost well if you were a plumber, electrician etc you need tools, you have to buy these prior to doing any work what's the difference? If you want to referee then you have to be properly equipped and this will cost you something, with the expected outcome of making an overall profit eventually. Maybe the fees in Norn Iron are based on the fact you are expected to outlay for equipment etc, maybe its time the associations in England/Wales/Scotland did the same and raised the fees.

Minimum wage is £7.20 per hour (over 25s)

So how many hours do you work as a referee to get £18
One hour pre-match turn up at venue and carry out pitch inspection etc
Two hours (approx.) for a match 45 each way 15 halftime plus injury/extratime
One hour filling in reports and preparation for next match

To me you spend a minimum of four hours doing a match so that's £28.80 minimum you should be receiving, add to that a small payment for abuse then the minimum you should be getting paid is £30 a match? Anyone disagree? Those doing matches for £22 or £18 are letting themselves be paid below the minimum wage or is that so HRMC/DLA don't become interested?

 

[GraemeS]

OK been watching this and whilst over here we are paid well for refereeing, I have never found the cost of updating my shirts prohibitive i.e. ebay, aliexpress, amazon etc all do reasonable shirts for £10. Now the cost of the course here is £50 less your registration fee for the year means it actually only costs you £20 for the course. This is made back in your first two matches, after flags whistles cards etc are added I would say an overall spend of £150 maximum would have you ready to referee. Now here that's four matches and after that is gravy. if you do it for the love of the game, if you are here to make a profit then you are in the wrong game! Everyone whinging about the cost well if you were a plumber, electrician etc you need tools, you have to buy these prior to doing any work what's the difference? If you want to referee then you have to be properly equipped and this will cost you something, with the expected outcome of making an overall profit eventually. Maybe the fees in Norn Iron are based on the fact you are expected to outlay for equipment etc, maybe its time the associations in England/Wales/Scotland did the same and raised the fees.

The problem with this argument for me is that you're talking as if we're discussing setting this whole system up from nothing for people who already referee. Which is fine in that context - I've refereed for nearly 4 years now and have therefore obviously made back my initial investment. And similarly, as I've started refereeing at higher levels, I've accepted that there are extra costs associated with that: I'm already having to travel further, and I've already had to splash out on a warm up top, as well as other bits and pieces like a pressure gauge and better whistles that wouldn't have seemed necessary as a beginner.

So even though I've calculated the starting costs at closer to £250, that's still not a big deal to me in retrospect and I've probably spent that again on replacing kit and buying more stuff. But it will be to a referee who's brand new and has never picked up the whistle before. What if they hate it? Or worse still, what if they look at refereeing, discover the costs associated with getting into it and decide not to take the risk? The FA should be trying to minimise the hurdle of starting costs, not increase them by requiring multiple coloured shirts at £50 a pop.

And again, I ask, to what massive benefit? Why are we even doing this - black for referees works fine doesn't it?

 

[A Freethinker]

And again, I ask, to what massive benefit? Why are we even doing this - black for referees works fine doesn't it?

I don't assume there is much benefit to referee's but to teams etc who want/use black and there are quite a few in Norn Iron then there are major issues. £250 to me is an over estimation £50 course, boots £30, kit £30-40 whistle £5, cards £3, flags £10-20. As you say the more you progress the more you buy and put back in.
Why does someone put in the money? Why do they do the course if not to referee and I agree some aren't cut out for it? But they have to buy a kit etc anyway they can purchase black or whatever is cheapest so the colour of the first outfit is irrelevant.

 

[RefJef]

When I did my course in the summer someone asked "what should we wear" (to referee in) the course tutors said any black top will do when you are starting out, a black T-shirt if necessary. The only stipulation they added was that it should not be a club kit/show any affiliation to a club (professional or amateur).

As has been said - a good ref's top can be got for £10 ish from Amazon, Ebay, etc. I do object to paying silly sums for branded goods; at the level I operate at, it doesn't matter as its just me - not a team of three that all need to look alike. However, I do appreciate that it is important for teams of three to look alike and am prepared to shell out extra if I decide to try & progress up the ladder and find myself working as part of a "three". But that's like any hobby - the more you get into it, the more you need to spend.

However, the course here in England costs £130 (+£10 for a pre-course evening course about the pathway into refereeing. This one, I think, should be free) You get all the equipment you need (flags, card, whistle etc.) as part of the course fee, plus registration. I'm not sure, but I think the cost of the course recently went up to the £130 mark to discourage tyre kickers and CV hunters; I think it (doing the ref's course, but then not actually continuing to ref) could be used for Duke of Edinburgh award and also GCSE/BTEC/AS Level PE.

 

[A Freethinker]

In NI the course is used as part of the GSCE/BTEC etc Sports course thenyou get the I am a referee from the layers on the pitch until you ask them any of the LOTG suddenly they aren't anymore! £130 for the course geez Louise you do get it tough in England!

 

[RustyRef]

Even more down here, £165 in Middlesex and I'm sure London is similar.

 

[zarathustra]

My course came in at around £170+ but that included kit that I bought from my county at the same time.

My leagues pay £30, or near enough as makes no difference, so I'd made this back in a month and a half.

But, if I hadn't stuck it out then I'd have been massively out of pocket

 

[A Freethinker]

My course came in at around £170+ but that included kit that I bought from my county at the same time.

My leagues pay £30, or near enough as makes no difference, so I'd made this back in a month and a half.

But, if I hadn't stuck it out then I'd have been massively out of pocket

I suppose it is a good way of keeping people not genuinely interested in it from doing the course! Maybe we are under charging for the course?

 

[Paul March]

Perhaps CFA offices should keep a supply of nearly new items for new refs to buy cheaply. I have lost count of the number of shirts/shorts/socks/whistles etc that I have upgraded and thrown away. Same goes for match pads and the new systems that come out, that I abandon after trying twice. (The write on and reuse sheets the site sponsors sell being one such purchase)
I would be happy to donate these items, they are all perfectly serviceable

 

[zarathustra]

I suppose it is a good way of keeping people not genuinely interested in it from doing the course! Maybe we are under charging for the course?

Possibly, but I suspect that the cost of the course contributes to the lack of people picking up the whistle.

 

[GraemeS]

I don't assume there is much benefit to referee's but to teams etc who want/use black and there are quite a few in Norn Iron then there are major issues. £250 to me is an over estimation £50 course, boots £30, kit £30-40 whistle £5, cards £3, flags £10-20. As you say the more you progress the more you buy and put back in.
Why does someone put in the money? Why do they do the course if not to referee and I agree some aren't cut out for it? But they have to buy a kit etc anyway they can purchase black or whatever is cheapest so the colour of the first outfit is irrelevant.

With all due respect to those teams, so what? The fact they'd quite like to wear black is justification for making ref pay more money? Not to me is isn't.

I've worked my £250 off assuming you're buying the "official" kit, so once you factor in £50 for a shirt and another £50 for socks and shorts, you can get to £250 easily. This is what I was encouraged to do as a new referee - the idea of scouring ebay for old/alternate kits was not presented as an option when I started out.

 

[Tino Best]

In Cambridgeshie the cost of the course was £140, that included a fill nike kit, whistle, lanyard, cards, flags, registration, CRB and a safe guarding course. I ref in Suffolk where 11 asides are a minimum of £25 so thats 6 games to pay it back. You have to do 5 games before you take your exam so at the end of the course if you hate it you are only £10 out of pocket. I know this doesn't include boots so it makes it quite economical to start. Also a club can pay upfront and yiu reff for free until you have paid them back. If I need to get another coloured shirt I can get a nice adidas one for £10 online from Ebay brand new. It wont match my shorts or socks, but I would allways turn up in black and then change into yellow there if there is a clash.

 

[PP62]

If I need to get another coloured shirt I can get a nice adidas one for £10 online from Ebay brand new. It wont match my shorts or socks, but I would allways turn up in black and then change into yellow there if there is a clash.

And you turn up to your next game with one team in black and the other in yellow! It's easy; as lots of others have said, ensure the leagues enforce the no black or very dark team kits and there's no problem.

 

[DB]

£50 for the course down here in Cornwall. Last season I made it my mission to get more referees involved in football but the wouldn't pay the normal £100 fee. So, I contacted the junior leagues (one of which I'm a Committee member), women's leagues, youth leagues etc and they agreed to part-fund the courses for the referees. I got the cost down through Cornwall FA to £50. Once the referee has officiated ten games for the selective league that is sponsoring them, the league would pay them £50.

The league's want the referees so the league's helped to create an incentive.